Rob To The Rescue With Karaoke
Since appearing on "Survivor" and "The Amazing Race," Rob Mariano has been busy helping The Early Show's viewers in a series called "Rob to the Rescue."
This time, it was a trip to Johnson City, Tenn., where Theresa Greer has been wanting for a night off ever since she volunteered to be a karaoke DJ at a friend's bar more than six years ago.
When Theresa wrote to Rob asking for help, she said she never gets a chance to socialize with the crowd because she's always on duty. She DJs every Friday night and has never missed worked.
Theresa's face lit up when
"Good to see you," she told him. "You came to my rescue."
But first, she came to his rescue with a shopping trip for some hometown duds. It was going to be cowboy night at the karaoke bar and Rob wanted to look the part, but without too much glitz.
"I don't want anything with these beads or feathers or anything," he said.
Even the typical cowboy belt buckles were a bit much for Rob. "It looks like jewelry," he protested. "Cowboys are supposed to be tough and you guys have jewelry all over your stuff."
With his outfit in order, it was time to set up for karaoke, which made for some technical challenges.
"There was a lot of equipment and I really had no idea where anything went. I couldn't tell you which end of the wire went where," Rob confessed. "The crowd had no respect at all for me. It wasn't like, 'Let's get out of the way so Rob can put his speakers up' or 'So Rob can set up shop.' They just wanted to hear the music and get up there and start singing."
And sing they did. "When I heard the songs and the voices coming out of these people, I thought I was at an audition for 'American Idol.' And not in a bad way," Rob said.
Rob drew the line when it came to trying his skills at the microphone. "I know I'm not musically talented," he said. "Luckily for me, my wife is, or at least she thinks she is."
So the crowd had the extra treat of a visit from "Survivor" winner Amber Mariano, who knew exactly what she wanted to sing.
"I picked 'It's Raining Men' because it's not like a serious song," she said. "It's a fun song that other people can sing along to and you can't really hear me so much and that's a good thing."
In the end, it was a night to remember. "It was my first time in a — quote — redneck bar. And I got to tell you, the rednecks, they're alright in my book. I like them," Rob said.
As for Theresa Greer, she was happy to have the night off, but she'll be back in action this Friday. And Rob? He's back in action, too, tomorrow morning on The Early Show. His next rescue mission takes him to sunny Miami to teach a Vermont resident how to swim.